Who Is Edward Nirenberg, and Why Are We Listening to Him?

You may be familiar with him from having read his work, or you may be one of his thousands of social media followers. But just how did Edward Nirenberg insert himself into credible conversations surrounding the COVID-19 pandemic? MedPage Today sought to answer this question.

Nirenberg is a recent college graduate and aspiring medical student, who writes comprehensive analyses on topics related to the COVID pandemic, recently largely focusing on the COVID vaccines.

He is active on Twitter and Instagram. He writes regularly for Medium.com and on his own blog, and he co-wrote columns for The BMJ and this very website.

The Keyser Söze of Pandemic Science Communication

Nirenberg's M.O. does not sound unlike what many journalists do: "I see my role as helping to translate science and the latest findings to people in a language they can understand," he said.

Nirenberg majored in biochemistry at Cornell University, earning a bachelor of science degree in 2019. He also took immunology courses, worked as a lab research assistant, and learned about the anti-vaccine culture that has often challenged public health.

After graduating, he worked briefly as a medical scribe for a urology office and emergency department in New York City. But when COVID forced shutdowns, Nirenberg lost his job. He began blogging in November 2020, and a month later, he said he already had a following.

He created a Twitter profile primarily to correspond with medical professionals and their followers, and uses his Instagram account to communicate with lay people. He now has more than 18,000 Twitter followers and nearly 22,000 Instagram followers.

Earlier this year, Risa Hoshino, MD, a New York City pediatrician, started reading his work and contacted him.

"He knows what he's talking about," Hoshino told MedPage Today. He also has the "unique ability" to communicate scientific topics well to both science and lay audiences, she added.

Hoshino vetted him, she said, just as she vets any potential collaborator. Not only is he passionate, but "he has original ideas, he writes really well," she noted.

They co-authored an opinion piece calling childhood COVID a "crisis" for MedPage Today in mid-June, with Nirenberg listed as the lead author.

Both are part of "a grassroots community of vaccination advocates," said collaborator Daniel Freedman, DO, a pediatric neurologist based in Austin, Texas. They teamed with a few others to write a column about vaccination in kids for a BMJ blog, which was published online later in June.

Nirenberg was identified as "a science communicator and vaccine advocate" by the journal. He wrote an equal portion of the piece, Freedman said.

"I think he is a very strong science communicator, he has a very, very good understanding of basic science," Freedman added.

Nirenberg and Hoshino are currently working on another commentary for MedPage Today, while Nirenberg also continues writing on his own.

He engages with readers whenever possible, he said, but ignores the dozens of nasty comments he gets from anti-vaccine trolls trying to discredit him because his analyses don't align with their views. Even when he hears anti-Semitic rhetoric, Nirenberg, who is Jewish, ignores it. "I don't consider it criticism; it's just evil noise," he explained. "There's nothing to be gained from engaging with those people ... It's not worth the energy or stress."

Nirenberg has also been attacked because of his limited academic credentials. When he critiqued the Belgian vaccine researcher Geert Vanden Bossche, PhD, for writing an open letter opposing vaccines in mid-March, Vanden Bossche's supporters fired back, noting that Nirenberg lacks a doctoral degree. "I cite everything, so they go for the low-hanging fruit," he said.

Regardless of his lack of credentials, Nirenberg understands his chosen topics better than some MD's, Hoshino said, adding he knows which primary sources to go to and actually reads the whole article.

"It's not how I would choose to spend my free time, so I'm glad Ed does this," Freedman said.

Nirenberg has applied to medical schools during the current cycle (he prefers not to publicly say where). Despite earning acceptance from some in the medical community for his writing, he hopes to work as a practitioner in the long run. He is especially interested in developing more durable and effective vaccines for respiratory viruses. Freedman hopes he works in pediatrics.

Nirenberg also plans to keep writing, even if he continues to do so mostly uncompensated.

"We are all kind of self-motivated. I would say it's a hobby," Freedman noted.

Nirenberg's writing could help his chances of getting into medical school, Hoshino and Freedman said. "Most med students do not understand vaccines as well as he does," Freedman said, chuckling. "I think he's going to accomplish incredible things."

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